Landlord calls police on tenant’s tomato plants claiming it is pot

If you are a tenant and plan to plant some tomatoes, make sure you let your landlord know about it ahead of time, if not, it might be confused for marijuana plants.

A resident of a Brooklyn, New York apartment building received an unexpected visit from the police after his superintendent called police to report an illegal marijuana growing operation on the roof of the building.

There was only one problem, as the plants growing on the roof of the building were actually tomatoes.

“I do not know much about plants. I’m not very good with that,” Christian Delarosa, the building superintendent said. “When I saw them, my first thought was, ‘Oh, my God.’ Then, I looked it up on my phone and it seemed to be marijuana plants, but I thought I should call someone who knew about plants, so I called the police,” the superintendent also said.

Delarosa called the police and a lieutenant and two officers were sent to the scene to investigate the 15 mysterious pot plants.
An unapologetic Delarosa, 34, said that while the plants were found to be completely legal, he was not the only one fooled.
“When the police arrived they could not tell right away either,” he said.
Obviously, the tomato plants do not contain the psychoactive compound found in marijuana plants, but they do contain nicotine.

“Lately, every little thing turns into a major police issue. I feel bad for this tenant having to go through such an ordeal just because the stupid building super thought tomatoes were pot. The tenant should sue the superintendent for emotional distress,” Gloria Harvey, 28, of Brooklyn, New York told after learning about the tomato-pot mix up.

An expert however, said that he is surprised that the police could not tell the difference between marijuana plants and tomato plants. “I find it hard to believe that the police officers who were called to the scene thought for a moment that the tomato plants are marijuana plants. If they did, something is definitely wrong with them,” the expert said.